Contact-shoe for third rails.



F. LAGROIX. OONTAOT anon FOR THIRD RAILS.

APPLICATION FILED MAR. 13, 190B.

Patented Jan.4, 1910.

' UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

FRED LACROIX, OF BROOKLYN, NEW YORK, ASSIGNOR 0F ONE-FOURTH '10 DAVID S. GREENEBAUM AND ONE-FOURTH T0 J ACOB A. CANTOB, BO'I H OF NEW YORK, N. Y.

CONTACT-SHOE FOR THIRD RAILS.

Specification of Letterslatent.

Patented Jan. 4., 1910.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, FRED LACROIX, a citi- 'zen of the United States,. and a resident of Brooklyn, in the county of Kings and State of New York, have invented certain new and useful 'Im rovements in Contact-Shoes for Third Rails, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact description, such as will enable those skilled in the art to which the invention appertains to make and use the same reference being bad to the accompanying drawing, forming part of this specification..

The invention relates to improvements in contact-shoes such as are employed to collect the current from the third-rail conductor to operate the motor on the car of an electric railway.

In the third-rail of a long line there are many breaks necessitated by switches and other operative parts. In the ordinary construction the shoe is normally thrust toward the shoes in ordinary use much trouble is the line of the third-rail by a yielding mechanism. Consequently in such a construction the shoe in passing over a break in the thirdrail strikes the end of the succeeding railsection with considerable force. The successive shocks of passing shoes tend to batter the end of the rail-section and the repair and replacement of the latter is often required. Also the shoe itself, by the continued hammering that it receives in passing over the breaks in the third-rail, becomes injured so as to impair its efficiency and its connections become so weakened that it is often tornfrom the car. Furthermore, with experienced in obtaining a proper electric contact with the third-rail when the latter is coated with ice, which frequently happens in cold weather.

The invention in the present instance has for its object the, elimination or reduction to a considerable extent ,of the shock caused by the impact of the shoe on a succeeding rail-section after it has passed a break in the third-rail. To accomplish this the shoe is normally held away fromithe line of the third-rail by a mechanism that gives to pressure, and means are provlded for movmg the shoe into contact with the third-rail after it has passed a break in the latter.

The invention also has for its object the for insuring a proper provision of means the shoe and thirdelectrio contact between rail when the latter is coated with ice. This is done by lacing on the face of the shoe means for c caring ice from the rail.

The invention consists in the novel construction, combination and arrangement of parts, such as will be hereinafter fully described, poin'ted out in the appended claims and illustrated in the accompanying draw- %he figure of the drawin shows the side elevation of a device embo ying the invention.

The support 1, of insulating material such as wood and adapted tobe attached to the car-frame, has secured to the side of the same the bracket 2. To the latter is pivoted as at 3 the horizontal lever 4. On one end of the lever, as at 5, is hinged the upper end of the vertical hanger 6. The swinging movement of the ban er is limited by the link 7 ivoted to the anger and having a short sliding connection with the lever.

The lower end of the hanger 6 is of soft iron to form thecore 8 and surrounding the latter is the helix 9 formingan electromagnet. The helix is electrically connected with a suitable source of electricity,'which may be a battery carried by the car. On the lower end of the hanger is mounted the contactshoe 10 through which pro'ects' the core 8 slightly beyond the face 0 the shoe. On-

the lower end of the core is the, block, 12 o diamagnetic material, such as brass. This block tends to localize the magnetic influence at the ole of the core and prevents it from extendlng to the shoe. A flexible conductor 13 leads from the block 12 to the support 1 so that an electrical connection can be made with the motor on the car.

On the end of the lever 4, opposite to the end carrying the shoe, is the counter-weight 14. The latter is adjustable on the lever and by moving the same to overbalance the shoe the latter is normally held away from the third-rail. By adjusting the counter-weight on the lever the force with which the shoe is {lelda away from the third-rail can be reguate e The operation of the device is as follows: When the car is in position so that the thirdrail comes within the influence of the electromagnet, by the attraction of" the latter the shoe is depressed against the action of its supporting mechanism from its normal position to contact With the third-rail, thereby completing the circuit through the rail and shoe. When a break in the third-rail is reached the ma net ceases to act and the shoe, through t e action of the counterweight and the interveningmchanism, resumes its normal elevated position. After the break is passed and the succeeding thirdrail section comes Within the influence of the magnet the shoe is again depressed to complete the circuit. The hinged connection that the shoe has With the lever ermlts the shoe to make a square contact with the rail..

The strength of the magnet is sufiicient to overcome but slightly the action of the coun-v ter-Weight. Also through the inertia of the shoe and its connections, which first has to be overcome by the magnet, the break in the third-rail is well assed before the shoe again contacts with t e rail. Consequently the shoe does not strike the end of the rail-section and does not batter the same, nor is the impact sufficient to injure the shoe as the magnet acts easily and smoothly. The localizing of the magnetic influence by the diamagnetic block at the end of the core prevents the shoe from becoming magnetized and there is no tendency of the latter to become attracted until the end of the core is directly over the rail. Should there be any ice on the rail it will be broken and removed when the shoe engages the rail by the serrations on the face of the same.

It is obvious that certain mechanical equivalents can be substituted for some of the parts hereinbefore described in detail. As instances, a spring may be used instead of the counter-Weight and a permanent magnet for the electromagnet.

Having thus described my invention, What I claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent 1s,

1. In a collector for third-rail conductors, a contact-shoe, movable mechanism normally holding said contact-shoe in an elevated osition, and a magnet on said movable mec anism to actuate the latter to depress the contact-shoe.

2. In a collector for third-rail conductors, a contact-shoe, movable mechanism normally holding said contact-shoe in an, elevated position, a magnet on said movable mechanism to actuate the latter to depress the'contact-shoe, and adjustable means for regulating the action of said movable mechanism.

3. In a collector for third-rail conductors, a contact-shoe, a pivoted lever normally holding said contact-shoe in an elevated position, and a magnet on said lever to actuate the latter to depress the shoe.

4. In a collector for third-rail conductors, a contact-shoe, a pivoted lever normally holding said contact-shoe in an elevated position, a magnet on said lever to actuate the latter to depress the contact-shoe, and a weight adjustable on said lever to regulate the action of the lever.

5. In a collector for third-rail conductors, a contact-shoe, movable mechanism normally holding said contact-shoe in an elevated position, a magnetic core on said movable mechanism to actuate the latter to depress the contact-shoe, and diamagnetic material surrounding said core to localize the magnetic influence at the end of the'core.

6. ha collector for third-rail conductors, a contact-shoe, movable mechanism normally holding said contact-shoe in an elevated position, adjustable means for regulating the action of said movable mechanism, a magneticcore on said movable mechanism to actuate the latter to depress said contactshoe, and diamagnetic material surrounding at the end of the core.

7. In a collector for third-rail conductors,

a contact-shoe, a pivoted lever normally holding said contact-shoe in an elevated position,

a magnetic core on said lever to actuate the latter to depress the contact-shoe, and diamagnetic material surrounding said core to localize the magnetic influence at the end of the core.

8. In a collector for third-rail conductors, a contact-shoe, a pivoted lever normally holding said contact-shoe in an elevated position, a Weight adjustable on said lever to regulate the action of the lever, a magnetic core on said lever to actuate the latter to depress the contact-shoe, and diamagnetic material surrounding said core to localize the magnetic influence at the end of the core.

In testimony whereof I here-unto affix my signature in the presence of two witnesses.

GEO. L. GREEN, JEANNETTE Fa GREEN. 

